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Why did I have to pay twice for my Thai e-visa and immigration extension?

Nov 3, 2025
2 months ago
William *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
I paid for an e-visa in August from Thai consulate in London, so I thought that I had 90 days straight through without having to report to immigration as I would have done when if I arrived on visa exempt, but when I arrived in Bangkok I was stamped in for 60 days and told I had to report to immigration on or before date stamped, so I thought fair enough just a formality, ooh more to pay. WRONG after being processed get to counter and Told 2000 Baht please. So why did I have to pay Thai embassy for e-visa and then pay another 2000Baht to the immigration office. Surely that tells me one thing that getting an e-visa is a waste of time and money. Grouse over๐Ÿ˜ ๐Ÿ˜ก
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The original poster (OP) expresses frustration after paying for an e-visa from the Thai consulate in London, only to find that upon arrival in Thailand, they were granted a 60-day stay and had to pay an additional 2000 Baht to extend their stay. Comments from the community clarify that the e-visa is valid for entry but only offers a 60-day stay, which is a common practice. Several users emphasize that the OP misunderstood the visa terms, while others share similar experiences and stresses the importance of researching visa requirements before traveling.
James ********
And with all of the helpful replies, the OP has his explanation. Good Night ๐Ÿ˜ด Thailand, Comments closed
Paul *************
I am still convinced u must of asked for the wrong visa or given the wrong type? As I applied for the e visa online.

Back in September, I came out on the 21st

And landed the twenty second I was stamped in for 3 months?
Michael ********
๐Ÿ™„๐Ÿ™„ So many people have zero idea, and do zero reading, before they get a visa. What made you think that you had 90 days? It is literally called a 60 day tourist visa. Also you didn't even need a visa to stay in Thailand for 90 days total. Oh Lordy, the irony. :)
Dave *********
I think u confused the โ€œvalidity of visaโ€ with the length of stay.

The validity of visa was 90 days which mean you have 90 days period to enter Thailand and initiate the period of stay which is 60 days.
Dca *****
Curious as to exactly how much you paid for your Thai Eโ€“Visa from the Thai Embassy in London? ยฃ30 Pounds, ยฃ60 Pounds, ยฃ150 Pounds, or some other amount??
Mike ********
@Dca ****
ยฃ60 i paid for an o- visa (90 days)
Ian ******
Same problem I had, thinking you can get visa for the amount of days you want !! You can't, only 60 day tourist visa from the thai consulate, I was told at the embassy i needed to go to immigration to get extra 30 day but maybe mau, I didn't listen, ended up overstaying to the amount of 20,000เธฟ ,

Only because of tod's good wisdom, I got off lightly 20,000,เธฟ fine and 1 year ban( the red mark still causes problems and cannot be removed)

Cheers Tod
John **********
@Ian *****
you overstayed for a long time if you got a 1 year ban unless you were arrested
John *******
Clearly says it is for 60 days on the London page
Frank **********
This is what happens when you do not do any research. Lesson learned for the next time.
Michael ********
Martin *******
Did you apply for a Tourist Visa or Non-O Visa?
Gregor **********
@Martin ******
he applied for a Tourist Visa and thought it would get him stamped in for 90 days
Jay *******
You didn't need an evisa for 60 days, you could have come visa exempt. Either way you would have needed to pay the 1900 baht for a 30 day extension.
Stuart ********
Tod is spot on (as always) with his detailed reply. Itโ€™s not the fault of the visa itโ€™s the poor choice you made. Some countries donโ€™t get 60 days on arrival so it maybe beneficial to some.
Mark ********
You only get a tourist visa if you have already had a couple of 60 days on arrival,otherwise you wasted ya money.
Greg ***********
@Mark *******
There is no guarantee . . . . . if you had more than 180 days "touristic stays" within a recent 365-days period, they will probably pull you aside and interogate you. Regardless if you have a tourist visa or not. And only THEN it would be wise to have the famous three proofs at hand
Ian ******
Bob **********
@Mark *******
and nowadays thatโ€™s no guarantee
Gregor **********
@Mark *******
not even in this case would a tourist visa whitewash the fact that you used "touristic entries" for a longstay in Thailand. It doesn't make any difference - both the visa-exemptions and tourist visas get scrutinized if used "too many times" in a row
Tod *********
If I read your rant ๐Ÿ˜ฎ err post correctly ๐Ÿ˜‰ I believe you applied for a single entry tourist visa from the thai consulate in London online via the eVisa website

The VISA is valid for 90 days <- meaning you have that long to ENTER thailand on it and when you do (if it was indeed a single entry tourist visa) you'd have gotten stamped in for 60 days just like everyone who enters on one gets.

You are correct, there is no upside to buying a single entry tourist visa which gets you 60 days when you stamp in because since July 2024 visa exempt entries are 60 days for brits, ๐Ÿ˜•

You are also correct, on either entry stamp (60 day tourist visa or 60 day visa exempt) if you wanted to stay longer you would have had to go to the office and get a 30 day extension (for 1900baht not 2000 ๐Ÿ˜‰ )

๐—ฆ๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ต๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฑ ๐—œ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ-๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ต๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ. I covered that, you didn't have to get the eVisa, you confused the validity of the visa 90 days (which is how long you have to enter the country on it) with the amount of time you get stamped in on that visa which is 60 days ๐Ÿ˜•

๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฒ-๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜†. You do have a point, as long as the visa exempt entry remains 60 days for brits there is no upside to buying a single entry tourist visa online before you wing your way here

Live and learn.
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